Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), two-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions, will aim for a third title in the fresh season next year with more firepower in their armoury. KKR picked up eight players in the IPL 2019 auction that concluded in Jaipur on Tuesday. Windies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite, New Zealand bowler Lockie Ferguson and England batsman Joe Denly were the top picks of Kolkata Knight Riders in the auction.

Brathwaite, who played for Delhi Capitals (formerly known as Daredevils) in the last season, was bought by Kolkata for a whopping Rs 5 crore. He has 170 runs and 13 runs to his name from 14 IPL matches so far.

Kolkata bought fast bowler Ferguson for Rs 1.6 crore and batsman Denly at his base price of Rs 1 crore. England left-arm seamer Gurney also made his way to KKR for Rs 75 lakh.

KKR have won the IPL twice in 2012 and 2014, under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir, who retired from all forms of cricket earlier this month. In the history of IPL only Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings have won the title thrice.